Rise and shine, Memphis. It’s going to be a gorgeous day in the Mid-South. You’re on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program. I’m your host, Jo Garner, mortgage professional with Evolve Bank and Trust. Our co-host is Tom King, certified Shelby County Property Tax Appeal Expert with King and Vaughan Consulting. We’re talking about “Hang Onto What You’ve Got: Paying Less Interest Cost and Less Taxes” But whatever YOU want to talk about, if it has to do with your real estate or your financing or even lowering your real estate property taxes, call us on the air at (901) 535-WREC or 901 535-9732.
Tom, the fate of Shelby County property owners is being decided with discussions going on about our new tax rate. Glad to have you around the coffee table today. < Tom tells our audience who he is and what King and Vaughan Consulting can do for them and talks briefly about the property tax rate increase>
The market got a bit of a surprise yesterday when bond prices fell sending the mortgage rates spiking up from 3.25 to 3.5% on the 30 year fixed rate. The 15 yr hit around 2.75% to 2.875% . These rates are with no points. If you want to pay more you can get the rate down even lower.
My assistant Susan Belew and I have been offering various down payment assistance programs and 100% loan programs to those needing low move-in costs. VA, THDA and USDA mortgages can offer up to 100% financing. Now if you are buying a house to use for rental property, the minimum down is about 20% instead of zero to 3.5% . If you are buying rental property and you need help with the 20% down, it is possible I can help you by giving you part of your financing secured on another asset other than the house you are trying to refinance. That lets you “hang onto what you’ve got” in cash when you are buying real estate.
Whether you are buying a primary residence, a 2nd home or investment property, if you want to compare different financing scenarios from one house vs a different house , just let me know the addresses and sales prices of the properties that interest you and we can compare the move-in cost and the payment amounts on each of these. It is important that you have a comfort level with the mortgage payment AND down payment on that house
Today it pays to compare two or three financing scenarios to make sure you’re getting the best terms. The government FHA program has gone up so high on their mortgage insurance that sometimes its cheaper to use the 3% conventional loan instead so that you’re not paying so much in mortgage insurance. My assistant Susan Belew and I would like very much to work with you. You can contact us directly off the air at 901 482-0354. That number again is 901 482 0354. Or catch us on the blog www.mortgageloansblog.com
USDA is a terrific zero-down loan if the property falls into a less populated area. If you CURRENTLY have a USDA loan and would like to refinance it to a much lower rate, the new and improved USDA streamline refinance with no appraisal has just been released. This is an easy loan. Call me and let’s talk .
Of course Susan and I are still busy using the special HARP program to help people with qualified Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conventional loans refinance to rates in the 2’s and 3’s without an appraisal value . It can be a sweet deal for most. If not sure what type loan you have and you just want some quick numbers, Susan and I can help you with that. Call us at 901 482 0354 or catch me on the blog www.Mortgageloansblog.com
Let’ s not forget the FHA streamline refinance with no appraisal required. There are so many ways we can make this loan work to your advantage.
Tom, I had a lady call me this week who has been listening to our show for several months. She is an accounting professional and knows how much she could save if could OWN her house vs RENTING it. She said, “I’ve always been afraid to step out and buy a house. You need to encourage people not to let FEAR hold them back.” I told HER that I got stressed over my tax returns.” She laughed because she’s an accountant and can read tax returns like the back of her hand. We talked about how important it is to seek advice from knowledgeable professionals who have good reputations for putting their customers first. She and I compared some financing scenarios available to her if she PURCHASED a home vs continuing to rent. I sent her preapproval letter to her and she is out shopping for a home this weekend.
Here’s our word to the wise: If the deal works for you today—DO IT TODAY”
Whatever your real estate or financing challenge, we want you to join us around the coffee table by calling us on the air at (901) 535 WREC. That number again is 901 535-9732. If you have a question or a problem, more than likely there are several others listening to the program today that have the same concerns. There may be others out there who have solutions for you. We want our solution people to call in too. That is the reason we are here is to try to connect people with a challenge with a genuine solution.
Tom we’re talking about “Hang On To What You’ve Got: Paying Less Interest Costs and Less Taxes.” What is the first step we need to take to lower our property taxes?
Questions answered by Tom King:
1. What is your relationship with the tax assessor?
2. There is a deadline listed on your tax assessment notice that expires within a few days. Is that the final deadline for appealing your taxes or are their additional deadlines?
3. Tell us, Tom, about your appraisal background?
Questions answered by Jo Garner
1. How does “Hanging On To What You’ve Got” look like to some of your customers?
Tom, the customers that come to us for a refinance loan or a home purchase loan have many different goals and dreams. In order to find a way to help them “Hang On To What They’ve Got” we ask a series of short questions. The first question is “What do you want to accomplish from your home purchase loan or refinance?”
A. Some people simply want to lower the mortgage payment as much as they can to give them more discretionary income to invest or enjoy. A. People falling into this category are retired clients who want or need the extra money freed up each month for traveling or just for living expenses B. Younger families raising children or sending children to college sometimes put a higher priority on a lower note until their income increases or the kids leave home. Then they can pay off the loan early if they choose
B. Another category of clients are those who just want to get the house paid off as quickly as possible. Their goal is to shorten the term on their mortgage and keep their payment the same. Getting a lower note AND shortening the term is icing on the cake for them—which happens frequently. These clients are planning to retire early or soon and do not want a house payment when they step away from the day to day work week.
C. Another category of clients want to pull out cash from the equity they have in their homes to pay off higher interest rate debt, they use the cash to start a business or to start buying additional real estate properties.
The next question we asked the clients in these categories is :
How long do you plan to keep this house and this mortgage? If the customers plans to be in the house for many years, we will look at fixed rate options for them.
This week one of my clients told me he was buying a 2nd home here in Memphis because he lives in another state but will be working here for another 5 years. After 5 years or so he plans to retire and will not want to keep the 2nd home. We locked his rate yesterday on a 2.75% rate with no points (sweet). He will enjoy this low 2.75 rate with a low payment amortized as if it was a 30 year loan for the next 7 years and since he is selling the property in the next 5 years, he doesn’t have to worry about the day it converts to an adjustable rate mortgage.
2. You work with a lot of self-employed business owners and you work with real estate investors. Cash is king to them. How do you help them keep cash in their pockets at closing?
Self-employed people and real estate investors know the value of working capital. In other words, they know how to put every available dollar to work making them a return every day. I have had so many of these clients say, “ I need to put down at least 20% on this home purchase to eliminate the private mortgage expense, but I don’t want to spend my cash to do it. How do I avoid using my cash?”
A common solution to their requirement is to structure their loan with a combination of two loans. Say the house they are buying has a sales price of $100,000. In order to eliminate having to pay for private mortgage insurance (which only insures the lender and not he borrower), the first mortgage is no more than 80% loan-to-value or $80,000. We create a 2nd mortgage or home equity line of credit for $10,000 dollars which takes the total financing with the 1st and 2nd up to 90% combined-loan-to-value. Most loan programs will not allow you to borrow on unsecured money, so we look for a way for them to borrow the last 10% secured on something else they own like a 401K or other stock holdings or other security. This can get them into the home purchase with very little or no cash from my client. Problem solved.
We have other arrangement for solutions but this is one example.
Real Estate Tip of the Week: Following the song “Alive and Kicking” Jo says—“When life seems to throw monkey wrenches into the spokes of my bicycle wheels, I start singing that song, ‘ I’m Alive and Kicking.’ Just singing those positive lyrics gives me resolve to steadily extract the stuff clogging my wheels and just keep pushing forward. Over the years, I have found memberships to business clubs, networking groups and church groups very valuable. The relationships you develop in constantly interacting with people in these groups provide ready and willing help to you in a crisis or other little dilemma along life’s road. Countless times these friends have come to the rescue like when we had to get our house boarded up in the middle of the night after a house fire. I have sought help other times when I was faced with a project or a family need where I felt woefully lacking in skill . Someone told me one time that relationships with people in the business world are like a bank account. You need to make valuable deposits into that relationship in as many ways you can so that the day you need to make a withdrawal, you will have no problems getting the help you need. When life is throwing monkey wrenches into your wheels, having a dedicated network of business people or friends that you know you can seek out for help can get you over the hurdles and onto your destination.
1. Jo has two announcements: Talk Shoppe offers free education and networking to anyone interested in real estate or business. This Wednesday at DeVry University 6401 Poplar Ave Memphis. Cheryl Hurley with SQ Modern Media will be presenting: “Blogging Made Simple.” The networking and education is free. For more information about Talk Shoppe go to www.TalkShoppe.BIZ
2. Next week on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program here on AM 600, Bonita Elam of Enterprise Property Management. We will be talking about transitioning your home to a rental property. Let us know what topics YOU want to hear. To hear today’s podcast and others go to my blog www.mortgageloansblog.com
Transitional Songs: “Hang On To What You’ve Got” The Four Seasons; “My Last Dollar” Dale Deacon Jones; “Alive and Kicking” Simple Minds
About Tom King. (901) 487-6989 Tom King has been an appraiser in the Memphis area for over 35 years. He cut his teeth on appraising since his father was an appraiser also.
Tom currently is partner in the King and Vaughan Consulting firm with Deanna Vaughan. For this company Tom is a certified Shelby County real estate property tax appeal expert. With the new property tax appraisals coming out, Tom is about to be VERY busy.
In his free time Tom likes to sky dive and is VERY experienced at it. He also lives in the country and has horses. He is a long-time member of Bellevue Baptist church and very active in the Christmas Tree production.
Jo Garner’s Bio
www.MortgageLoansBlog.com www.MoneyShoppe.NET (901) 482 0354 jogarner@mindspring.com
Jo Garner is a mortgage officer with extensive knowledge in tailoring mortgages to her customers who are refinancing or purchasing homes all over the country. She offers conventional, FHA, VA or other loan programs for refinancing and purchases.
Jo can help you look at rent vs buy, when it makes sense to refinance, how to get the best deal on your home purchase financing.
Jo Garner has been in the real estate/financing business for over 20 years. She got her start in Portland, Maine where she first began her real estate career. She received her real estate education from the University of Southern Maine and was personally mentored in San Diego, California by Robert G. Allen, author of Nothing Down, Creating Wealth and The Challenge.
On moving back to West Tennessee in 1987, she went into business buying and selling discounted owner-financed notes secured on real estate. In 1990 Jo went to work for a residential mortgage company and has been a mortgage loan officer for over 17 years. Her goal is to offer excellent, affordable service to her customers, tailoring the loan programs to the specific needs of her clients.
In addition to her work in the mortgage field, Jo Garner is the primary sponsor and founder of Talk Shoppe in Memphis. www.TalkShoppe.BIZ She was also the editor of Power Shoppe, a free weekly ezine designed for real estate professionals and others indirectly connected to the real estate industry and currently publishes on her blog www.MortgageLoansBlog.com .
For real estate financing solutions, plug into the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program. You can find mortgage rates, FHA Streamline refinance with no out-of-pocket costs, refinancing options, home purchase loan programs, answers and real estate, money-saving tips and more.
Real Estate Tip of the Week: Following the song “Alive and Kicking” Jo says—“When life seems to throw monkey wrenches into the spokes of my bicycle wheels, I start singing that song, ‘ I’m Alive and Kicking.’ Just singing those positive lyrics gives me resolve to steadily extract the stuff clogging my wheels and just keep pushing forward. Over the years, I have found memberships to business clubs, networking groups and church groups very valuable. The relationships you develop in constantly interacting with people in these groups provide ready and willing help to you in a crisis or other little dilemma along life’s road. Countless times these friends have come to the rescue like when we had to get our house boarded up in the middle of the night after a house fire. I have sought help other times when I was faced with a project or a family need where I felt woefully lacking in skill . Someone told me one time that relationships with people in the business world are like a bank account. You need to make valuable deposits into that relationship in as many ways you can so that the day you need to make a withdrawal, you will have no problems getting the help you need. When life is throwing monkey wrenches into your wheels, having a dedicated network of business people or friends that you know you can seek out for help.